Event 16 - CLARK DOMINATES THE OUTLAW SUPER LATES
August 2 Report by Brian Watt

Last Saturday August 2nd under heavy threatening skies the OSCAAR Outlaw Super Late Models made their first stop at the venerable 1/3 oval of Sunset Speedway. Everyone enjoys it when these 600+ horse power machines invade the track with their speed and roar of the big block engines. We also had our own thunder cars, 4 cylinders road runners as well as the traveling Ontario Pro Challenge that formed the frame work for an excellent show. The night’s sponsor was B&B Excavating that specialize in commercial, industrial and residential sewer and water septic systems and they handed out trophies to all the evening’s race winners. In the featured event there was a 50 lap race for the OSCAAR outlaws and the winners was #48 London’s own Rob Clark as he was completely dominant in this caution filled event winning by a large amount. The other winners were #49 Flying Frank Davey in the thunder car feature, #21 Rob Deasy in the 4 cylinders and #02 Dennis Thompson in the visiting Ontario Pro Challenge 20 lap feature.
OSCAAR OUTLAW SUPER LATE MODEL
The 50 lap race was a caution filled event as there was no flow to this race as they could not put any long runs together as the day long rain came back to haunt us. In the early going #66 Dan Lawlor held the point but #49 Rob Clark let it be known he was the car to beat as he moved quickly to the back bumper of the 66 machine. The early going was a spin fest as cars were spinning almost every lap. With Clark welded to Lawlor’s rear it was only a matter of time before Clark would inherit the point. On lap 8 Clark made the pass by Lawlor and in behind the 70 car of Jeff Hanley and the 18 machine of Bruce “greasy” Gowland were on the charge with #62 Lloyd Ritchie and #67 Phil Bullen filling out the fast 5. By the half way point Clark had a straight away lead over Hanley while Gowland was applying heavy pressure for the runner up position then way back the threesome of Lawlor, Ritchie and #27 Roy Passer. On every restart Clark would just power away from Hanley as Hanley was extremely quick down the straights but lose momentum in the corners as Clark appeared too smooth not using his brakes at all in the corners. On lap 44 #89 Drew Spicer brought out the final caution which would be Hanley’s last chance to catch the speedy point’s leader. The running order for the 6 lap shootout was Clark, Hanley, Gowland, #68 Stu Robinson Jr. possibly the fastest car on the track as he was involved in many incidents in the early going, Ritchie and #69 Mike Bricknell and as the green flag flew Clark sped away and the order remained the same as nobody was any match for the London Rocket on this evening as he tamed the 1/3 mile oval known as Sunset Speedway. Jeff Hanley who tried to catch Clark is the son of super star Canadian stock car legend Junior Hanley who has won everywhere in every class in North America and is currently leading the points in the Sunoco series in Indiana. When you see the 70 machine roll around the track it brings back memories of the famous white #72 of his father Junior who thoroughly dominated ovals all over Ontario winning features at every speedway and Jeff certainly has his father’s talent. The heat winners were Robinson Jr., Clark, #52 Gary Passer and Bricknell. Congratulations to Rob and the crew on a dominant win very similar to an event a couple of years ago when he dominated in similar fashion like his car was on a rail. It was a tough night for Stu Robinson Jr. as he got involved in a number of incidents early and had to go to the rear a number of times as he appeared as quick as Clark as they are 1,2 in the points, see you in September for the return engagement.
THUNDER CAR DIVISION
As the 17 thunder cars took to the track for their 25 lap feature the Plan Group points race was heating up for the second half run to the wire as #49 Frank Davey and #16 Amanda Connelly were tied with 1238 each while #94 Doug Harvey is 1234, #45 Rob Poole 1204 and #74 Mark Zacchigna 1202 so this point race will go down to the last race of the last night. On the drop of the green flag by starter Doug #23 Paul Maltese grabbed the early lead while the 60 car of Mike Norris, the 06 of Gord Matt, #19 Greg Long and the 00 car of Andrew Cole round out the top 5. While Maltese held the point the black knight of Flying frank Davey was on the move as he moved from the rear along with Connelly to appear pressure to the 23 car while Norris and #51 Mark Adams were the fast 5. Davey was definitely the fastest car on the track and was parked on Maltese back bumper looking to the outside to take the lead away and finally did but the yellow appeared as the 60 car loops it on lap 20 with Davey going back to the runner up spot but not for long. On the restart Davey sped past the 23 machine of Maltese while Adams, #74 Mark Zacchigna, #94 Doug Harvey and Connelly in pursuit. As they roared down the front chute to take the checkered flag from Doug the flagman Davey had little trouble with Maltese, Adams, Zacchigna, Harvey and Connelly were in that order. The heat winners were Maltese, Zacchigna, Davey and Poole. Congratulations to Frank and the crew on back to back feature wins, is a hat trick in the offing stay tuned for that answer. It would appear Davey has Wrestled the Plan Group point lead from Connelly while the race tightened everywhere through the field.
THE 4 CYLINDER ROAD RUNNER DIVISION
As the 18 4 cylinders lined up for their feature run the only question to be answered was could the 21 car of Rob Deasy repeat as feature winner having won the previous win. On the drop of the green #26 of Ted Edwards grabbed the early lead looking for his first feature win while in behind #6 Aaron Martyn, #22 Tim Phinnemore, #88 James Rodgers and #9 Mike Carson were jostling for position. While Edwards held the point Phinnemore was applying extreme pressure to the 26 car while in behind Deasy and Martyn were door handle to door handle and Carson were the fast 5. As they approached the half way point Phinnemore could not get by Edwards and slammed into the rear of the 26 machine with both going to the rear. The new leader was Martyn while Deasy, #8 Rob Snow, #22.2 Bob Phinnemore and Rodgers were dicing for position. Martyn tried to hold off the fast #21 CRX of Deasy but finally Deasy grabbed the point and was home and cooled out while Carson and Snow managed to dispose of Phinnemore as the top 5 were trading paint for positions. As they rolled down the front chute to take the checkered flag Deasy was the easy winner while in behind the fast 5 were Martyn, Carson, Bob Phinnemore and #80 Jim Carter. The heat winners were Edwards, Deasy and Tim Phinnemore with 2. Congratulations to Rob and the crew on back to back feature wins and could there be a three peat in the future stay tuned for the answer. Jim Carter padded his Plan Group points lead as he has a comfortable lead on his drive to capture the 4 cylinder point’s championship.
THE ONTARIO PRO CHALLENGE
The traveling series made a stop at Sunset Speedway and they are great looking scaled down NASCAR replicas. In their feature the #02 of Dennis Thompson easily won the 20 lap feature as he led the entire race from his pole position and went on to a relatively easy victory. The remaining top 5 were #5 Thane Woodside, #53 Kevin Crowhurst, #66 Josh Nicholson and #7 Mark Swain. This is a great looking series but they need more cars to make that next step.

Once again we would like to thank B&B Excavating for their nightly sponsorship and their support around the track over the years. We would like to thank the OSCAAR Outlaw Super Late Model series and the Ontario Pro Challenge series for bringing their entertaining series to Sunset as they are always popular especially the OSCAAR Outlaws and they will be back on September 20th make sure you circle that date as they are always great to see.